Arman Tsarukyan isn’t pretending that everything is normal anymore. While the lightweight division continues to move on, he is forced to watch from the sidelines. UFC 324 came and went without him, and the timing made it sting even more. When Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett were given the spotlight, the Armenian’s absence surely felt loud.

What makes it disturbing is that this isn’t about skill. No one challenges Arman Tsarukyan’s place at the very top of the 155 lbs division. This is about trust, optics, and a situation that spiraled when it couldn’t afford to. ‘Ahalkalakets’ fell out of favor with Dana White after a headbutt, a withdrawal, and a reputation for volatility—and now he’s trying to claw his way back in with a public apology.

Arman Tsarukyan pleads for forgiveness after Dana White snub

Arman Tsarukyan showed complete humility on Daniel Cormier‘s YouTube channel. There was no bravado, just a fighter attempting to erase the harm already done. In a half-joking tone but with an obviously serious choice of words, the number one-ranked lightweight said, “Dana and Hunter, forgive me. Give me the title fight. I’ll be a good boy. I’m a good boy. And I’m not gonna hit anybody anymore. And I’m trying to be a good boy.”

The line sounded odd, but the message was clear: he understood why this snub happened. ‘Ahalkalakets’ didn’t deny that his intensity had gone too far, nor did he avoid accountability. Instead, he tried to describe the chaos of fight camps without justifying it.

He added, “During camp, it can happen, [anything], you know? Like, you can get hurt. But for the weight cut, for the punching bags or headbutt anybody, never happen again.” However, that doesn’t mean that Arman Tsarukyan wouldn’t lean into his fighter instincts if the situation called for it.

“If someone is trying to slap me, what can I do? I gotta slap him back, right?” But it seems like that tension between control and impulse is exactly what the UFC is concerned about right now. Dana White has already stated that instances like the Dan Hooker headbutt influenced the decision to pass him over.

“100 percent,” White said when asked whether the headbutt contributed to Arman Tsarukyan not getting a title shot. “A lot of things have factored in, you know,” he explained during his interview with the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show. As a result, ‘Ahalkalakets’ stayed out while others took advantage of the opportunity at UFC 324.

The irony is brutal, to say the least. Arman Tsarukyan did everything right inside the cage, then unraveled it outside. But now, he’s no longer selling the dominance that we all know he’s capable of; he wants Dana White to look at his reliability instead. And until the UFC believes him, the title race will continue without one of its most dangerous contenders. He even nailed his prediction on how Paddy Pimblett’s defeat would go down.

Tsarukyan predicted exactly how the UFC 324 main event would go

Watching UFC 324 from the sidelines likely stung for Arman Tsarukyan, especially since events unfolded exactly as he predicted. While he tries to reestablish trust with the UFC, the lightweight division has moved on without him, and Paddy Pimblett’s entry into the main event only underlined the frustration.

What stood out wasn’t just that Tsarukyan picked Justin Gaethje to win, but also his accuracy. He dismissed Pimblett’s toughness and pointed to the Liverpudlian’s lack of polish as the biggest difference maker against Justin Gaethje. During his interview with Daniel Cormier, he said, “I believe Justin Gaethje [will win]; Paddy is just tough, not technical.”

According to Arman Tsarukyan’s prediction, Justin Gaethje’s fight strategy would be to let chaos erupt first, then settle in and take control, and it proved to be accurate. He even knew the result, predicting that ‘The Highlight’ would be going the distance in a five-round fight for the first time ever.

“The same is going to be here, and I think Justin Gaethje is going to beat him by decision,” Tsarukyan continued. The challenger, wanting to be trusted again, did more than just miss the spotlight; he proved that he understands the division better than most watching it. Now, it would be interesting to see how the UFC CEO reacts to it.